Snapchat or Match.com?

Proclaiming your love for someone is an intimate and serious thing. So why are we shortening this experience to ten seconds or less? Snapchat romances are growing in popularity among college students. Is it killing the vibe or is it growing the connections? Personally I think it is butchering the romance.

A Snapchat romance is defined as starting or maintaining a romantic or flirtatious relationship over Snapchat. Some people think it is more helpful for connecting with others, but I think in the end it could be more harmful then helpful.

According to Match.com, 40 million Americans use some kind of online dating service. While using dating sites is becoming more popular, those sites are just meant for meeting, not maintaining. Many dating services recommend meeting in person as soon as you feel comfortable, but closer to the initial conversation.

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A prime example of people finding love over Snapchat is the very recent story of the Vikings Fan and the Mystery Girl. The love story took place at the University of Wisconsin. A girl, “Mystery Girl,” proclaimed her love on the UW Snapchat story for a boy wearing a Vikings jersey, “Vikings fan,” she saw on the story as well. The two went on an adventure in hopes of meeting. In the end there was a geotag, the whole campus was rooting for them, and they lived happily ever after. For the night. Probably.

While this is all fine and dandy, maintaining a relationship over Snapchat could be problematic. You can see when they open the snap which is great until you’re sitting on your bed at 10 p.m. staring at the empty arrow for three hours waiting for a response. This leads to frustration, confusion and sadness.

“How is that even a real relationship,” said Late Knight Host, Sam Ellefson. “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”

Snapchat romances could start the most epic love story of your life, but it will most likely end as an awkward three days of wasting your time. My advice to those who want to get cute with someone is to talk to them in person, take them on a real date or just plain text them. I’m not saying don’t use Snapchat. I’m just saying use Snapchat for fun and for the ridiculous filters, not to start a relationship. That’s what Tinder is for. ◼︎

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